Two individuals, including a tattoo artist, were arrested by the police for operating an illegal tattoo parlour and performing unsafe ‘body modification’ procedures, such as tongue splitting, without any safety precautions.

Hariharan and his accomplice Jayaraman, who had been running an illegal tattoo parlour at Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, were apprehended. The police also shut down Hariharan’s tattoo parlour.

Hariharan, a tattoo artist, gained viral attention in January after splitting his tongue in two. He later went to Mumbai and spent ₹2 lakh on a tattoo. At his parlour in Tiruchirappalli, Hariharan had been performing tattoos and also engaging in dangerous ‘body modification’ procedures, including tongue splitting.

Recently, Hariharan had shared several videos on social media of his own tongue splitting, as well as a video of his friend Jayaraman undergoing the procedure. The operation was carried out without any safety measures or medical support. Following the widespread circulation of the videos, the police arrested both individuals.

The police revealed that Hariharan was operating his tattoo parlour without proper documentation and was performing ‘body modifications’ without any medical training.